Strutt & Parker has partnered with property marketing tools provider ehouse to offer a virtual reality viewings service across its property book.
The agency will offer a free virtual viewings service as part of its marketing to its first 1,000 newly listed clients from this month, after which it will cost £250 plus VAT.
The service uses specialist 3D Matterport cameras that have been imported from America by ehouse, with training made available to photographers across all Strutt & Parker branches.
Virtual Viewings gives prospective home buyers and tenants a virtual 360 degree view of the whole property with the ability to walk from room to room using any digital device or a 3D headset. They will be available through the portal listings and on the Strutt & Parker website.
Other agency brands offer virtual reality viewings, but this is believed to be a first for a national estate agency.
Guy Robinson, head of estate agency at Strutt & Parker, said: “We want to offer our clients the very best possible service, harnessing all that technology has to offer.
“Virtual viewings puts the needs of our clients, buyers and tenants first, in a world where so many people are time poor.”
Comments (3)
Fly on the wall in the agency teams HQ
Management ‘Quick,someone come up with a techy sounding idea for our new owners to show them we are on it!?
Agent ‘erm how about virtual tours and this new Matterport thing…no one else would think of that and it will beat our competitors!
Management ‘What an app does our viewings, great sign up fast. We can make the clients pay for it along with the Country Life advertising. I’m going to ring the parent in Paris’!
Agent, ‘oh hang on lots of others use this type of widget too, and it’s only really useful for overseas investment buyers, but the government wants to tax them a 1,000,000% for having the cheek to buy our properties. How are we going to get clients to pay for this if no one else does? We can’t get them to pay for Country Life, let alone this…’
I think it’s great that agents are now seeing the importance and embracing all kinds of technology. VR hasn’t really taken off as much as it could have done in other industries, but I can definitely see it working within the property industry good luck Strutt & Parker.
Rubbish. Many agents offer it as standard and for free. We are one of them.